Methylphenidate that I have a prescription for does work well enough to follow through on mindful meditation.
I am on the spectrum of aphantasia where picturing something I haven’t seen before doesn’t work and most things are still formless conceptual ideas, so the meditation that requires picturing something in my mind still doesn’t work. But I can focus long enough to understand why!
Oh, interesting! I’m unmedicated and I have severe aphantasia too, visualizing anything more than a shadowy figure/outline that barely moves is a completely hopeless task.
I try to imagine physical sensations (e.g., a light breeze, ocean waves, etc.) instead, but the effectiveness of the actual meditation isn’t great. I’ve actually had a lot of success with relaxation by way of hypnosis videos on YouTube, though.
Methylphenidate that I have a prescription for does work well enough to follow through on mindful meditation.
I am on the spectrum of aphantasia where picturing something I haven’t seen before doesn’t work and most things are still formless conceptual ideas, so the meditation that requires picturing something in my mind still doesn’t work. But I can focus long enough to understand why!
Oh, interesting! I’m unmedicated and I have severe aphantasia too, visualizing anything more than a shadowy figure/outline that barely moves is a completely hopeless task.
I try to imagine physical sensations (e.g., a light breeze, ocean waves, etc.) instead, but the effectiveness of the actual meditation isn’t great. I’ve actually had a lot of success with relaxation by way of hypnosis videos on YouTube, though.
Another possibility is doing a ‘body scan’. It grounds u and u dont need to visualise anything,
Which is a big part of mindful meditation, paying attention to what is going on right now so imagining things isn’t even necessary!
Can you feel the air moving into your nose or mouth?
Of course…
That’s just what I use to practice. I couldn’t focus on a mental image to save my life.